Superintendents: Classes too large

By Emily Droege edroege@examiner-enterprise.com

Tuesday

Mar 5, 2019 at 7:05 AMMar 5, 2019 at 8:23 AM

Administrators from area public school districts underscored the ongoing financial challenges of their schools during a public panel discussion organized by Public Education Advocates for Kids Monday night.

Panelists included school district superintendents Chuck McCauley of Bartlesville, Rick Peters of Caney Valley, Nicole Hinkle of Bowring and Vince Vincent of Dewey.

They said the teacher and staff raises and the $50 million restored to K-12 education last spring was the first step of many. School class sizes, teacher recruitment insufficient counseling staff and classroom support were some of the main issues addressed during the panel discussion at Bartlesville’s St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.

“Oklahoma can do better,” said McCauley, noting that because of funding cuts more than a third of high schools in state don’t offer a foreign language, and more than a quarter of the students in the state don’t have the opportunity to take a fine arts class.

“That’s why we need to have that improved funding because that’s what will make a difference in the classroom,” said McCauley.

Administrators said they’ve been coping with growing class sizes, insufficient classroom support and teacher retention and recruitment. They emphasized the last year’s teacher raises helped boost morale and improve the financial situations of current teachers, but there are still big challenges to recruiting educators to teach in Oklahoma.

Hinkle said action by the legislature last year to raise teacher salaries was a big step in the right direction, but the state still lags behind all surrounding states in per-pupil spending on public education.

“Right now, we need more funding and resources in our classrooms,” said Hinkle. “Teachers want to teach … we need operational money in our classrooms, without strings attached.”

Oklahoma has made some of the deepest cuts to funding for local schools of any state in the country, the panel said. Indeed, while smaller class sizes promote student achievement, particularly in the early grades and for low-income students, a decade of per-pupil funding cuts have forced schools to pack more kids in larger and larger classes.

A recent report by the Oklahoma State School Board Association showed that even after last year’s teacher raises, education funding would have to be raised by at least $1,100 per student to reach the regional average.

Increasing the state’s per student funding would allow schools to reduce class sizes, especially at the elementary school level, and hire more counselors to deal with academically and emotionally challenged students, said Vincent.

“We’re seeing students coming to us with a multiple of needs that are really outside the educational aspect of the classroom, and in our district, as I’m sure in all districts, we really prefer to take on a holistic approach to meet all needs,” said Vincent.

Steep budget cuts over the last decade have made the teaching profession in Oklahoma less attractive, resulting in a severe teacher shortage crisis and negative consequences for students.

A recent report released by the state Department of Education shows approximately 30,000 Oklahoma teachers have left the profession in the past six years.

Several educators are facing increased workloads and unmanageable class sizes. Restoring appropriate funding and respect to the profession will improve the work environment for teachers, Peters said.

“We need to have operational dollars and continue to support our teachers in the classroom through material funding,” said Peters.

The panelists also covered a variety of other topics, such as bond issue support, college and career readiness standards, the effects of school vouchers, and the recent school report cards. They also stressed that districts are constantly challenged to meet so-called “unfunded mandates” — requirements on schools issued from the state but with no funding to implement them.

Public Education Advocates for Kids, a Bartlesville-based volunteer organization formed two years ago by parents, grandparents and other residents to support and improve public education. Monday’s discussion is one of a series of public forums and panels that PEAK has organized since 2017 to help parents and other community members better understand the issues facing public schools.

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